A/N: new chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 13: The Second Coming

"I don't see anything," Olivia announced, climbing out of the SUV to survey the church they were parked in front of.

"That's when you keep your guard up," Jack warned, stepping up next to her. "Everyone fan out."

Olivia felt strange as Jack left her side to search the area, Ianto stepping past her as well and Gwen scanned the area with her handheld.

"Something's not right," Olivia whispered to herself, glancing around at the three and their surroundings.

"I'm getting a reading over here!" Gwen reported, hovering her handheld over a cellar door leading below the church.

Olivia watched Gwen attempt to open the door, but before she could grip the handle, the door blew open, throwing her back with such force that she hit a tree and slid to the ground, unconscious.

Olivia gasped as if the wind had been knocked out of her before her gaze shot to Gwen…attempting to open the cellar door.

"Gwen! Get outta the way!" Olivia shouted as she ran toward her and tackled her to the ground beside the cellar door just as it blew open.

"Olivia! Gwen!" Jack called as he and Ianto ran toward them. "You alright?!"

"Fine," Gwen called back as both girls groaned, sitting up side by side, Ianto kneeling next to them to examine them, Jack looking into the cellar.

"Jack, be careful," Olivia warned, watching him inch toward the entrance with his gun drawn.

"Hello!" he called into the cellar. "Look, whatever or whoever you are, we mean you no harm! We just wanna talk!"

Gwen and Olivia stood, dusting themselves off as Ianto drew his sidearm as well and stepped on the opposite side of the cellar door, facing Jack. Olivia drew her Stun Gun as Gwen drew her gun as well, all of them looked into the cellar, catching the sound of shuffling.

"Come on out slowly," Jack called as all eyes stayed on the cellar, but Olivia inched closer to Jack as they heard more shuffling and creaking of the stairs as whatever it was inside climbed out of the dark cellar.

"Jack, we should really be careful with this one," she warned.

"Holy, Christ," Gwen breathed as the being in the cellar revealed himself and everyone stared at him with wide eyes. The man stopped at the top of the stairs in the daylight, stark naked with shoulder length black hair, a full beard and piercing green eyes.

"Is that…?" Ianto trailed off with a frown, quickly lowering his gun as Gwen holstered hers, as did Jack with his.

"I think…it is," Jack replied as the man looked between all of them, something serene about his gaze until it landed on Olivia and she gripped her Stun Gun tightly, unnerved by the stare.

"Excuse me," Jack called, stepping close to him and he looked to Jack when he stopped next to him, gesturing to his hand and asking, "May I?"

Without a word the nameless man lifted his hand and held it toward Jack who gently took it, examining it. There was a hole in his hand, right in the center, and when Jack looked at his other hand he found the same thing. He looked down at his feet to find holes in them as well before he brought his gaze back to the man's.

"Olivia," Jack called over his shoulder, not taking his gaze from the man. "You know how I was joking earlier that this was the second coming?"

"Yeah," Olivia drawled, cautiously.

"Turns out…I was right."

"I knew you blasphemed all the time, but this is taking it a bit far, Jack," Olivia shot back.

"I'm dead serious, Olivia."

"Are you telling me that this is—?"

"Jesus Christ!" Ianto shouted, shoving Gwen to the ground when a fireball fell from the sky, dodging it and Olivia and Jack fell to the ground when it shook as the meteor landed nearby, close enough to kick up dust around them.

"What the hell was that?!" Olivia shouted, coughing from the dust and looked up with wide eyes when the man stepped in front of her, holding a hand toward her to help her up.

She glanced at his hand but didn't take it as she stood by herself, dusting herself off and staring at him before she trudged off to find the others.

"Jack!" she called. "Ianto! Gwen! Where are you?!"

"Over here!" Jack called as the dust settled and she made her way toward him.

Olivia shouted in surprise when the ground suddenly disappeared from under her feet and she fell on her rear, sliding down a slope of dirt until her feet hit something at the bottom with a metal clang. She looked up at the sphere sticking out from the ground and when she heard a familiar hiss coming from it, she realized it wasn't a meteor as they all thought. She watched as the hatch of the ship opened and revealed a huge, reptile-like alien covered in armor except its head. It took in its surroundings, looking like a snake as it moved its head from side to side, until its eyes landed on her. She remained still when it lifted its fist toward her, and she noticed something small attached to the wristband it wore. A red laser scanned her from head to toe before he pulled it back to look at his wrist.

"Earth human," it hissed, making her swallow as it climbed out of the ship and stepped next to her. "But you've seen more than just the Earth, haven't you, little one?"

"Olivia!" Jack called from the distance, but she kept her eyes locked on the thing in front of her.

"You will help me," it said. "Find the one that came here before me, help me capture him, and I will leave you in peace."

"The one that came…? He's up there!" Olivia told him. "I knew there was something off about him! If you hurry you can still get him!"

"No, you must help me," it replied, looking to the edge of the crater before disappearing, making Olivia frown in wonder.

"Olivia!" Gwen called, making her look to the edge of the crater as well to see the three of them standing there, examining the ship.

"Do not tell them of me," the reptile alien hissed from somewhere under his invisible cloak. "I will find you again, Olivia Felton."

"Who are you?" Olivia murmured, standing and looking around, trying to find him.

"My name is Jag," he hissed from somewhere.

"What is this, a ship?" Jack guessed, suddenly right next to her and she looked up at him in surprise before looking to the ship again.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Looks like."

"Anything inside?"

Olivia waited a moment before replying, "Not that I saw. Where'd Ianto and Gwen go?"

"Getting the naked wonder into the SUV," Jack answered, watching her carefully. "You sure nothing came out of that thing? It's open."

"It was open when I fell down here," she lied again, knowing Jack could see right through her even though she was being casual, but she wasn't sure if she could trust him, or any of them, with this. She meant no harm, but there was no telling what Jack and the others would do to a reptilian alien that looked like a warlord. "What are we doing with the Jesus doppelganger?"

"Taking him to the hub," Jack replied, turning to trudge up the crater. "We'll lock him in the vaults and come back to examine this thing."

"I don't think taking him to the Hub is such a good idea, Jack," Olivia voiced, following him up the slope. "He may look like the Almighty's son but I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."

"Not your call, is it?" he shot back when they reached the top, making her frown up at him.

"What's your problem, Harkness?" she snapped.

"You're lying to me, Felton, that's my problem," he shot back, not bothering to help her climb out of the crater.

"Alright, so I'm lying to you, but can you please trust me on this?" she requested, following him as he continued on toward the SUV. "Look, there's something about this guy. I don't know what it is, but… Jack! Would you stop and look at me?!"

"Trust you, when you lie to me?" he snarled, whirling around on her. "You may have been able to pull this crap with the Doctor, but I won't stand for it!"

Olivia frowned in wonder at him before asking, "Jack, what's the matter? This isn't like you?"

"Get in the car, Olivia," Jack ordered before turning again and marching toward the SUV where Gwen and Ianto waited for them with the unknown man in the back.

She climbed into the back with Gwen, Ianto in the driver's seat and Jack in the passenger seat. She glanced back at the man in the very back of the SUV sitting quietly, covered in Jack's military coat.

"What took you so long?" Ianto questioned Jack irritably, making Olivia turn a frown at him in wonder.

"I had to get Olivia out of that crater, didn't I?!" Jack shot back.

"Next time, Olivia, don't go bargin' in without us," Gwen snapped at Olivia, making her frown turn to the other woman in absolute disbelief.

"One of you tell Martha we're on our way back," Jack ordered as Ianto began driving back to the Hub.

"Why can't you tell her yourself?" Gwen questioned.

"Because I'm the boss!" Jack shot back.

"I'll tell her," Olivia assured them, tapping her com on her ear.

"Finally, someone who listens!" Jack snarled.

"Martha, we're on our way back," Olivia spoke into her com. "Everything ok over there?"

"Everything's fine here," Martha replied. "Bringing back anything interesting?"

"Uh…yeah," Olivia replied. "Really interesting. You'll see when we get there."

"If we get there, with Ianto driving like an old lady!" Jack snapped.

"You wanna drive?!" Ianto shot back.

"What's going on with those two?" Martha wondered.

"It's not just them, but I wish I knew," Olivia replied, glancing back at their prisoner again. "And actually…I have a pretty good idea. See you when we get there."

Back at the Hub...

Jack, Ianto and Gwen marched through the cog door and barred gate, Olivia following them as she led the unknown man still wearing Jack's coat behind them. The three were bickering back at forth at each other, making Martha frown at them as they all walked in.

"What happened?" she asked Olivia who marched the man toward the vaults.

Olivia nodded to Martha to follow her without a word, afraid to say anything to send the bickering her way. Martha followed, dodging the other three as she hurried after Olivia who said nothing as she marched the man into a cell just as Martha came up next to her.

"I'll bring you some clothes," Olivia assured him as she secured the cell then met his green gaze evenly. "I don't know what you're doing to my friends, but it's gonna stop, now, got it?"

"I have done nothing," he argued, calmly. "I was as you found me. Alone and defenseless."

"I highly doubt you're as defenseless as you make out to be when you blew the door open," Olivia retorted.

"And how do you know it was I that opened the cellar door?" he wondered.

"Don't play games with me, you have no idea who you're dealing with," Olivia shot back before turning to march out of the vaults, adding, "Come on, Martha."

Martha glanced between them before hurrying after Olivia who stopped at a closet to search for clothes.

"Who is he?" she asked as Olivia rummaged around, explaining everything that had happened, including meeting Jag.

"They think he's Jesus," Olivia finished, pulling out a pair of painter's coveralls.

"He certainly resembles him," Martha conceded. "So this Jag bloke is gonna find you again?"

"That's what he said," Olivia replied, facing her but not heading back to the vaults yet. "I didn't tell any of them about Jag. I trust you on this, Martha, especially now that they're not acting themselves. Don't hang around this guy too long, ok? Looks like he causes chaos in people."

"How come you're not acting like them? You've been around him just as long."

"The Doctor once said something about me absorbing huon energy, maybe it's protecting me…even after three years."

"You sure it wasn't from Jag's scan?"

"Maybe, but that was to find out where he was, what species inhabited the planet. Either way it looks like I'm the only one that can keep in contact with him without any…symptoms."

"You sure? You didn't seem too happy with him."

"Yeah, but my feelings are justified. This bickering they're doing is out of character. I need to find out who he really is and why he's here." Olivia marched around Martha to head back to the vaults.

"Olivia," Martha called, stopping Olivia. "What if…it's really him? What if it's him and he fell through the rift?"

"If it's him I'll personally tell my mother I was wrong about everything," Olivia replied before resuming her march toward the vaults and when she reached the cell she stepped in, shutting and locking it behind her before tossing the coveralls to him. "Put these on and give me the coat back."

Without a word he pulled the coveralls on up to his waist then stripped the coat off and stepped closer to her, holding it out to her. She placed a hand on her Stun Gun held in her belt at the small of her back, using her free hand to take the coat before he backed away and pulled the coveralls up completely.

"You don't like me," he stated as she slung Jack's coat over her shoulder.

"What was your first clue?" she shot back.

"Why?" he asked, sitting on the seat built into the wall to button the coveralls.

"I'll be asking the questions," she retorted, hearing Martha's footsteps come up to the cell. "Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?"

"If you're Christ then I'm Cleopatra, so cut the shit and answer the question."

He remained silent, making her grit her teeth in anger at his silence.

"Who are you?"

Silence.

"Where are you from?"

Silence.

"Why are you being chased?"

Silence.

"Aren't you gonna answer any of my questions?"

"Only if you answer the one I asked you."

"I don't have to answer any of your questions. I'm not the one taken prisoner."

"Aren't you?"

Olivia's face fell before she turned and tried to open the door but even after she punched in the code it wouldn't budge. Her gaze met Martha's on the other side of the glass in panic before she turned to him with a glare.

"What did you do?" she demanded through clenched teeth.

"Nothing that you cannot undo," he replied.

"Martha, put the place in lockdown," she ordered.

"But, Jack—"

"Jack is compromised! Do as I say!"

Martha swallowed before darting out of the vaults and Olivia glared at him.

"Alright, she's gone," she said. "Now tell me who you are!"

"I am whatever you wish me to be. I know Jag will be coming for you. He warned you about me, I assume."

"And I assume from your response that you're a Shapeshifter. So, why don't we cut to the chase? I've dealt with Shapeshifter's before…it didn't turn out so hot for the Shapeshifter."

Jag suddenly appeared, aiming a strange looking gun at the Shapeshifter as Olivia drew her Stun Gun, aiming it at him as well.

"You're coming with me, Svendin," Jag ordered.

"Oh, good, we have a name," Olivia smiled, sardonically. "Sorry, Jag, he's not going anywhere till he tells me what he's done to my friends."

"It's how he works, Olivia," Jag replied. "He causes discord and chaos wherever he goes."

"Why didn't it affect me?" Olivia questioned.

"You are blocking my control somehow," Svendin replied. "You have some telepathic abilities."

"Good to know," Olivia snapped back as she heard footsteps outside the cell.

"What the hell's goin' on here?!" Jack demanded.

"Release them from whatever control they're under and maybe I won't let Jag shoot you," Olivia told Svendin.

A moment later Jack, Ianto and Gwen fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Martha?" Olivia called as the doctor knelt down to examine each of them.

"They're fine," she reported. "Just unconscious."

"Good," Olivia nodded, lowering her Stun Gun and tucking it in her belt again. "Now let me out and you can have him, Jag."

"Thank you, Olivia Felton," Jag nodded as Olivia turned to the door to head out.

"Don't you want to know where your Doctor is, Olivia?"

She stopped dead next to the door and Martha's head shot up as she knelt next to Gwen, watching Olivia turn back to them.

"What?" she ground out.

"Olivia, get out of there," Martha ordered, running to the glass. "He's trying to distract you. It's what he wants. Don't fall for it!"

"How do you know about the Doctor?" Olivia questioned Svendin.

"Olivia, whatever this is, let it go," Jag warned. "He knows nothing. This is what he does. He manipulates whoever he comes in contact with until he brings about their downfall. It's why I'm here. To take revenge for my own life. Walk away."

"But if he couldn't get into my head how does he know about the Doctor?" Olivia demanded.

"It doesn't matter!" Martha called. "Come on!"

"It does matter, because my first run in with Shapeshifters wasn't here at Torchwood," Olivia explained. "So what are you?"

Svendin only smirked, making her march toward him, stopping an inch from him.

"What…are…you?!" she shouted.

"Sylaxian!" Svendin snarled back, revealing sharp teeth and swiping at her with sharp claws but she managed to dodge it as Jag stepped between them, still aiming his gun at him to keep Svendin from advancing.

"Sylaxian, I should've known," Olivia ground out. "You were there three years ago, weren't you?! Diablo High. How did you escape?!"

"I was left behind on the ship," Svendin replied. "It took me home on auto-pilot and I was put in jail for killing the entire crew, despite what really happened. The Doctor killed my people and what do I get for being the only survivor? Thrown in jail because of you!"

"Tough luck, buddy. Shouldn't have tried to kill the grads of Diablo High. We're a mean bunch."

Svendin lunged at her, but Jag hit him across the face with his gun so hard he was knocked unconscious onto the floor.

"Nicely done, Jag," Olivia nodded. "Thanks. Get him out of our hair, won't you?"

"Gladly," Jag replied, stepping toward him to throw him over his shoulder as Olivia marched out of the cell just as the three on the floor awoke.

"What happened?" Gwen asked, rubbing her head as Martha knelt next to her, Olivia kneeling next to Ianto to help him sit up.

"Telepathic invasion," Jack guessed correctly as Olivia looked to the cell, but it was empty.

"Where's Jesus?" Ianto asked, seeing the empty cell as well.

"He wasn't Jesus," Olivia explained, handing Jack his coat. "He was a Sylaxian."

"Something else you ran into in your travels?" he guessed as they all stood slowly, Martha looking over each of them.

"Actually, they crashed my graduation," she corrected. "Ever seen them?"

"Heard of them," Jack replied, shrugging on his coat. "Never met one."

"They're another species of Shapeshifter," she explained. "They eat people. And apparently they have other telepathic abilities I knew nothing about."

"That's why you were all bickering," Martha explained. "It's a defense mechanism. Distract the group so it can make a getaway."

"And this one chose Jesus?" Gwen wondered.

"The Rift dropped it in a church," Olivia reminded her. "Maybe that was first thing it saw. A cross."

"Well, either way, it's not our problem now," Jack told them. "Martha make sure Gwen and Ianto are ok. That telepathic invasion might've left them a little fuzzy. Olivia, come with me to my office."

She frowned but followed him as he made his way out of the vaults and through the Hub to his office, shutting the door behind her.

"Look, Jack, I know I took charge, but you were compromised, and Gwen and Ianto—"

"Relax, Nova, you're not here to be reprimanded," Jack laughed, pulling off his coat to hang it.

"For once," she smirked. "So why am I here?"

"It's time I taught you how to harness that telepathic ability of yours," he replied, stepping toward her as she stood with her back to his desk. "Lesson one: Defense."

A/N: reviews?